The 7th Meeting
of Product Working Group on Rubber Based (RBPWG) among ASEAN Member
States under the purview of ASEAN Consultative Committee on Standards
and Quality (ACCSQ) was held in Vientiane Capital City, Lao People's
Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) from 26 - 28 February 2008. The Meeting
was chaired by Dr Alias Othman, Director of Technology and Engineering
Division and co-chaired by Mdm Varaporn Kojornchayakul, Director Thailand
Research Fund. The delegates were taken to visit the Rubber Plantation
in Naleut Village which is approximately 50 km from the Capital City.
The 97 Ha plantation that has been planted with clone RRIM 600 is
owned by a Korean investor.
The two day RBPWG meeting was attended by delegates from six out of
eight ASEAN Member States namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia,
Philippines and Thailand to discuss the progress of the four specific
measures under the ASEAN Framework of Agreement for Rubber Sector.
The Meeting was also updated on several decisions made at the ASEAN
High Level Meetings such as the ASEAN Charter, ASEAN Scorecard to
monitor the progress of all sectors towards achieving the ASEAN Single
Window and the founding of the Coordinating Committee on CEPT and
AFTA (CCCA).
On specific measures, the Meeting agreed to concentrate on several
product categories whereby the four measures will align themselves
as closely towards those product categories to ensure that the four
measures can be achieved. The harmonisation of standards is given
highest priority due to the lack of regulated rubber-based products
besides tyres and medical devices. The delegates thanked the host
Department of Intellectual Property, Standardisation and Metrology
(DISM) of Prime Minister Department for great hospitality. |
The
7th Meeting of ACCSQ-RBPWG Meeting at Vientiane
